Yahoo News Former porn star Mia Khalifa reveals she earned less than £10,000 from adult movie career
Ex-porn performer Mia Khalifa has revealed she earned just $12,000 (£9,900) during the course of her adult movie career.
The 26-year-old, who now works as a sports broadcaster, revealed on Twitter that her time in the world of pornography was not as lucrative as many believe.
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She only worked in the industry for three months, but quickly rose to the top of the rankings for adult performers on Pornhub and still ranks highly today, almost five years after she left the business behind.
Khalifa told her 2.7 million Twitter followers that she “never saw a penny again” after she departed the industry in early 2015.
She also revealed that her continued popularity on porn websites means that she finds it difficult to get work, as people think she still appears in adult movies.
People think I’m racking in millions from porn. Completely untrue. I made a TOTAL of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that. Difficulty finding a normal job after quitting porn was... scary. Full interview here: https://t.co/xHK7SmhfrY pic.twitter.com/fwJlyzHznq
— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) August 12, 2019
I was involved in porn so briefly, but my actions spread like wildfire, and I continue to be ranked (truly baffles me) 5 years after leaving the industry. This is why people think I still perform.
— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) August 12, 2019
Khalifa’s notoriety skyrocketed when she appeared in a pornographic scene while wearing a hijab, which caused outrage in her birth country of Lebanon as well as throughout the Middle East.
The video made her one of the most searched-for performers in the industry, but also made her the target of death threats and widespread criticism.
She revealed that she received threats from people purporting to represent terrorist group ISIS and that she was sent a Google Maps image of her apartment.
In a brief clip from the longer interview Khalifa said it was “terrifying” for her to try to return to the world of work after walking away from porn.
She said: “I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a huge gap period in my resume.”
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In the interview, Khalifa speaks openly about the industry and her own experiences, accusing companies of using contracts to “trap” women at their most “vulnerable”.
She herself was scouted on the streets of Miami in 2014, having previously done modelling work.
Khalifa got engaged to fiancé Robert Sandberg earlier this year.
